Polls show that Republicans don't care as much about social issues this year as they did in the last two presidential campaigns. Is that why Rudy Giuliani is still in the lead? We hear who's advising the former Mayor of New York and what that tells tell prospective voters about what he might do in the White House. Also, President Bush picks another fight with Democrats, and in Iraq, Ahmad Chalabi rides again.

FROM THIS EPISODE

Polls show that Republicans don't care as much about social issues this year as they did in the last two presidential campaigns. Is that why Rudy Giuliani is still in the lead? We hear who's advising the former Mayor of New York and what that tells tell prospective voters about what he might do in the White House. Also, President Bush inflames Democrats again today, vetoing a domestic spending bill as too expensive, and Ahmad Chalabi claimed Saddam Hussein had nuclear weapons. When that turned out to be false, he lost favor with the Bush Pentagon. We'll hear how he's re-emerged as a figure of power and influence in Iraq.

For political pundits, the big surprise of this year's presidential campaigns has been the continuing lead among Republicans of Rudolph Giuliani. Conventional wisdom has it that the former Mayor of New York is liberal on social issues and conservative on foreign policy. Polls show that moral issues don't matter as much this year as they did in the last two campaigns, and that Giuliani leads with Republican voters because they think he's a strong leader without knowing just what he stands for. With President Bush talking tough about Iran's nuclear development, where does Giuliani come down on another invasion? What about the indictment of a former top aide? We look at foreign policy and hear what polls show about Giuliani's popularity among social conservatives.

Before the Iraq war, Ahmad Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress got millions from the Pentagon, but his claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction turned out to be false. Not long after the US invasion, the military raided 11 of his properties in Iraq, and he was accused of passing secrets to Iran. Three years later, Chalabi's back, in charge of restoring vital services to Baghdad and surrounding communities, racing through Baghdad in armed convoys, and holding conferences with top US and Iraqi officials. Today's Los Angeles Times chronicles Chalabi's rise, fall and spectacular re-emergence as a figure of influence in Iraq. Christian Berthelsen wrote the story.